That Special Thing
by CJ - Lady of Gryffindor
Summary: Mia finds herself stuck in traffic alone in a Limo with Lana Weinburger! Sure, they are kind of friends now, but still...what do they have to talk about? As it turns out...plenty. Takes place immdiately post book IX.Warning:Spoilers for book VIII, IX, X


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-Disclaimer: The Princess Diaries are the property of Meg Cabot

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- Warning! Contains spoilers for Princess on the Brink Book VIII, Princess Mia Book IX, and Forever Princess Book X

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That Special Thing

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_**Monday September 27th, In the Limo on the way to the Four Seasons.**_

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I know that Grandme're is slightly insane about this whole Domina Rei acceptance thing but really, I think she has finally gone full psycho. I mean she...

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**_Monday September 27th, In the Limo on the way home._**

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Yeah, I cut off before because of Lana talking to me...but I'm glad that she did...

I started to explain before about how I found myself alone today with Lana Weinberger. I mean, sure, Lana and I are kind of friends now, but it's not like we are the kind of friends that hang out together when we would rather be doing something else...like say, getting pooped on by the pigeons in Central park.

So imagine my surprise when Grandme're called during G & T today to inform me that I was to come directly after school to her suite for tea...with her and Lana and Mrs. Weinberger. I started to protest, but then Grandme're not so subtly reminded me about the gargantuan mess I made last week by dropping the bomb about Amelie Virginie's declaration making Genovia a democracy.

When it comes to guilt trips, Grandme're is second to none.

But when you think about it, she has some nerve. I mean, I wouldn't have had to revealing it the way I did if she and dad hadn't been so adamant about covering it all up, right?

And besides, I am still behind in all my classes from my week spent sulking in bed in my Hello Kitty pajama's and I'm sure Lana must have had things she would rather be doing too, tanning, shopping, teaching disadvantaged children the importance of nude lip gloss.

Instead we found ourselves stuck in traffic in lower Manhattan because a bus ahead of us blew a tire, spun sideways across two lanes and stopped traffic.

Talk about awkward! I mean, sure, Lana and I have talked, but we've never really spent time alone together. Usually we have Trisha and Tina to buffer the weirdness, not to mention JP and Boris. They've all kind of been sticking to me like glue since Lilly blew up on me in the caf last week.

So as usual when I find myself with a free few minutes I pulled out my journal and started writing, but after a few seconds I got that feeling...you know, the tingly one you get when you know someone is watching you. So I looked up and sure enough, Lana was watching me write. And she's like

"Do you constantly write in that thing?"

I just shrugged and she said that she guessed it was understandable, as lately I did have a lot to write about what with bringing democracy to Genovia, and my dating JP now and the like, but even before that, even before the break-up with Michael when things were going good between us, I always had my head buried in it.

So I told her that in a lot of ways my journal was like a best friend, and I could totally trust it, because unlike a human best friend (_Lilly!_) a journal wasn't going to tell me that Michael was sick of me and couldn't wait to get away from my whining.

But this is where it started getting weird because Lana looked at me all serious like and said

"What that Lilly byotch did was really cold Mia. You don't need friends like that."

To which I pointed out that she had said plenty of cold things to me in the past, and we were friends now (I guess!?)

But Lana just shrugged and reminded me that was stuff that was all in the past now and I guess she had a point. Lana _has_ been really nice to me for the past couple of weeks, and she did take me to get a mani/pedi right after that whole thing with Lilly, which is the kind of thing friends do for each other right? So then she asked me

"How are you doing with that anyway? I mean, you're not still letting what she said bother you are you?"

I told her no, even though yeah, I'm still hurt about , but I said that what really hurt was the things she said about Michael being sick of me.

"You still miss him a lot don't you?" She was looking at me, kind of in the same way a friend would when they were a little worried. But I don't know why Lana would be worried, I mean, she didn't know the full extent of how bad I had lost it and she sure as heck didn't know about my visiting Dr. Knutz in my Hello Kitty Pajama's and duvet.

"I guess so." I nodded "I mean, it's only been a couple weeks right?"

"Well, duh, I mean, it's normal to be really sad after breaking up with someone special." She looked out the window then but before she turned, I noticed her eyes looked sadder than I had ever seen them

"Lana?" I bit my lip really hard "Was Josh Richter really special?"

She looked back at me and her smile was sad, like when she told me about Bubbles, the pony her parents got rid of without telling her.

"Yeah, Josh was special." she sighed really deep, like the air was coming to and from her toes. "I know he acted like a jerk but..."

She looked at me kind of sheepishly and I swear she blushed a little.

"Mia...you know that weird neck thing you told me and Trisha about? About Michael?"

I looked down and nodded, still unable to believe I had admitted to Lana Weinberger of all people that I missed the smell of Michael's neck. Then, she totally surprised me by saying

"With Josh it was his hand."

I did a double take "You missed the way his hand smelled?"

"No you geek!" Lana laughed, not unkindly, but like she thought it was sort of amusing how dorky I could be at times. "I just meant...that for a long time I missed the way his hand felt when he held mine. I don't know, I felt ...safe or something, like nothing bad could happen as long as he was holding my hand."

I didn't know what to say to that, so I just kept looking at her and kind of smiled a little.

"I think when you..." She went on "I mean, when two people care about each other...there is always going to be a special something that feels kind of like...I don't know, like a special thing between you that you can never, ever, find with anyone else."

I thought about JP and how, even though he has a very nice neck, it still didn't smell like anything but his dry cleaner, and how I had never been the slightest bit interested in Kenny Showalter's neck.

I looked out the window sadly "How long did it take you to stop missing Josh Richter's hand?"

Lana laughed a little and smiled. "I'll have to let you know."

I looked at her and smiled back just as the traffic began to move once again.

At first I was sad, thinking about how Lana still missed Josh's hand, even after three years, but when I thought about it more (what else was I going to think about while Lana and I rolled our eyes at each other and tried not to laugh at the "adult's" inane conversation during tea) I realized that everyone who has ever been in love has had their own 'special thing', something that, even if it sounds crazy to others, is important to them and will forever remind them of the person that they loved.

Except...I haven't found that 'special thing' with JP, unless you count the fascination I have with how he angrily picks the corn out of his chili.

But I DO still have that special thing with Michael...

I know it's a small thing, but as long as I have that, it's like a part of him never left for Japan.

Like a part of him is still with me.

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So this is my first ever Princess Diaries Fiction...I got totally hooked into the books just this past week, I just finished "Forever Princess" and was so happy with the ending!

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!


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